Alexander Kynev

Alexander Vladimirovich Kynev is a Russian political scientist who studies elections and regional politics. He was born on January 31, 1975, in the settlement of Trakt in the Komi Republic. He graduated in political science from the philosophy faculty of Moscow State University in 1997 and earned his candidate of sciences degree in 2002. He worked as an expert for the Yabloko party in 1996–2000, headed the analytical department of the election monitor Golos in 2006–2012, taught electoral engineering at the Higher School of Economics in 2008–2010 and 2012–2019, and was an expert with the Civic Initiatives Committee in 2012–2018. He has co-authored about twenty books on elections, including “Dead Souls: Methods of Vote Falsification and How to Counter Them” (2007) and “Russian Parties and Elections 2008–2022: A History of Decline” (2024).

On February 20, 2026, Russia’s Justice Ministry designated Kynev a “foreign agent,” citing the alleged “spreading of false information” about the Russian authorities. He challenged the decision; a Moscow district court rejected his claim in April, and the Moscow City Court upheld that ruling on September 18. After the designation he stayed in Russia and continued to analyse elections. Following the State Duma campaign of September 18–20, 2026, he published a report titled “Coordinated Competition,” describing the campaign as the most unfair and tightly controlled Duma election to date.

According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, FSB officers detained Kynev on September 24, 2026. On September 25, Moscow’s Perovsky District Court remanded him in custody for two months. He is charged under paragraph “g” of Part 4 of Article 228.1 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers the sale of narcotics in large quantities; Meduza reported that the charge concerns an attempted sale. The article carries 10 to 20 years in prison. The case is being handled by the Kosino-Ukhtomsky district police department.

His lawyer, Mikhail Biryukov, said Kynev denies the charge and has appealed the arrest, stating that “there was no sale.” A relative told Verstka that Kynev had never used drugs and called the case a set-up. Investigators have not publicly disclosed the details of the accusation.